A portrait and biographical record of Boone, Clinton and Hendricks Counties, Ind. : containing biographical sketches of many prominent and representative citizens, together with biographies and portraits of all of the presidents of the United States, and biographies of the governors of Indiana, Part 69

Author:
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : A.W. Bowen & Co.
Number of Pages: 1080

USA > Indiana > Boone County > A portrait and biographical record of Boone, Clinton and Hendricks Counties, Ind. : containing biographical sketches of many prominent and representative citizens, together with biographies and portraits of all of the presidents of the United States, and biographies of the governors of Indiana > Part 69
USA > Indiana > Clinton County > A portrait and biographical record of Boone, Clinton and Hendricks Counties, Ind. : containing biographical sketches of many prominent and representative citizens, together with biographies and portraits of all of the presidents of the United States, and biographies of the governors of Indiana > Part 69
USA > Indiana > Hendricks County > A portrait and biographical record of Boone, Clinton and Hendricks Counties, Ind. : containing biographical sketches of many prominent and representative citizens, together with biographies and portraits of all of the presidents of the United States, and biographies of the governors of Indiana > Part 69

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ONROE GANGWER, one of the leading and well known citizens of Mulberry, Madison township, Clin- ton county, Ind., who is now engaged in the lumber business, represents that class of

progressive citizens who are the life of the town and are ever interested in its promotion and upbuilding. He was born in Lehigh county, Pa., on the 3d of January, 1844, and is a son of Thomas and Esther (Steckel) Gangwer, who were natives of the same county. The father was born in 1811, and during his younger years learned the stone mason's trade, which he fol- lowed for some time and then turned his atten- tion to farming. The fall of 1852 witnessed his arrival in Indiana. He then came to Clin- ton county, and subsequently removed to Tip- pecanoe county, where he died in 1866. His wife passed away the previous year. They were the parents of the following children: William, who resides in Frankfort; George, a resident of Mulberry; Rebecca, deceased; Eliz- abeth, wife of Jesse Weed; Sarena, wife of Edwin Shirer; Charlotte, wife of Nathan Mil- ler: Debora; Susan, widow of Andrew J. Dar- land; Thomas and Peter, both deceased; and Even, who died in infancy. The paternal grandfather of Monroe Gangwer was also a native of the Keystone state and reached the advanced age of eighty-four years. His fam- ily comprised the following children, namely: Daniel, living; Abraham, Horace, Ephraim, Thomas, Charles and Polly, who are now de- ceased.

Farm work became very familiar with Monroe Gangwer during his boyhood, for his parents lived upon a farm and he early began work in the fields. His education was ac- quired in the common schools of the neighbor- hood. He remained at home until he had at- tained his majority and then started out in life for himself. He first established a saw-mill in Carroll county, Ind., and then in Clinton county, and operated it until 1879, when he came to Mulberry, where he has since been connected with lumber interests. He here carries on a saw-mill and also buys and sells lumber, having been engaged in the retail

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OF CLINTON COUNTY.

trade since 1882. In connection with this he has a weaving machine to weave slat fences, and by carrying on this industry adds not a little to his income. He also owns forty acres in Washington township, beside eight houses in Frankfort, also some. vacant lots and six residences in Mulberry.

Mr. Gangwer was married July 21, 1870, to Madora Parks, who was born January 3, 1852, and is a daughter of William and Elizabeth (Darling) Parks, natives of Butler county, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Gangwer have an interesting family of five children : Addie, who was born June 16, 1672, and is now the wife of George H. Miller; Frank P., who was born October 16, 1873, and is now a member of the firm of Miller & Gangwer of Mulberry; Earl, born October 2, 1880; Troy R., born August 7, 1882; and Mary I., born October 14, 1891. Both Mr. and Mrs. Gang- wer are member of the Methodist Episcopal church and also belong to the Good Templars' society. In politics he was formerly a demo- crat, but now votes with the prohibition party. He is a man of excellent business and execu- tive ability, and as the result of good manage- ment and persevering effort has acquired a handsome competence.

ERRY W. GARD, deceased editor and lawyer of Frankfort, Ind., the eldest of a family of ten children born to Jesse and Amanda (McHenry) Gard, was born in Switzerland county, Ind., November 30, 1833, and moved with his par- ents to Clinton county in April, 1849, his father settling on a farm in Warren township. After his revoval to this county, he assisted his father in clearing up and preparing for the plow a very heavily timbered tract of land, and performed the various duties incident to farm life. During the winter seasons, he at-

tended such schools as the country then afford- ed. In the spring of 1851, he accepted a clerk- ship in a country store at Middlefork, owned by John Evans, then the contractor for build- ing the Michigan plank road. In April, 1855, he embarked in business for himself, succeed- ing his old employer. He continued in the mercantile business at Middlefork for a period of ten years-first with Jacob C. Bodkey, then by himself, and afterward with his brother, Oliver Gard. In September, 1865, he closed up his mercantile career, with but little to show for ten years' hard work, except a good stock of experience. In the following Deceni- ber, he purchased of James Beard the Frank- fort Banner, and, as editor and publisher, con- ducted that paper until the spring of 1867. The campaign of 1866 was a very warm one, especially over the county ticket. The "Ban- ner," as the republican paper, took an active part in this contest. Mr. Gard was nominated by the republicans for clerk in 1867, and made the race against D. W. C. Bryant, but was defeated by a majority of 157. He then form- ed a partnership with S. H. Doyal, Esq., in the practice of law, and the law firm of Doyal & Gard became one of the ablest and best known in the county. Mr. Gard was a gradu- ate of the law department of the State univer- sity-graduating in the class of 1870. On the organization of the city government of Frank- fort he was elected mayor, and served from January 1, 1876, to the regular election in the following May He was the republican can- didate for senator for the counties of Boone and Clinton, in 1876, but was defeated by Hon. J. V. Kent, by a plurality of thirty- seven votes.

Mr. Gard was a zealous Mason from the time he was old enough to enter the portals of a lodge, having been made a member at the age of twenty-one, in Burlington lodge, No. III, at Burlington, Ind. He was a charter

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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY

member of Middle Fork lodge, No. 304, and. its first senior warden. After his removal to Frankfort, he served three terms as worshipful master of Clinton lodge. He received the chapter degrees in Lebanon chapter, No. 39, at Lebanon, Ind., in June, 1869, and the council degrees in Boone council, No. 54, April 12, 1875. He was a charter member of the chapter and council at Frankfort, and was worthy patron of the chapter of the order of the Eastern Star; worshipful master of Clinton lodge, No. 45. F. & A. M .; high priest of Clin- ton chapter. No. 82, R. A. M .; illustrious master of Frankfort council, No. 46, R. & S. M., and illustrious grand master of the grand council of the state of Indiana. He was a charter member of Frankfort commandery, No. 29. Knights Templar, and was the third eminent commander of that body. He was liberal in his theology and radical on the tem- perance question. He was small of stature, yet for physical ability and power of endurance was probably not excelled by any member of the bar in Clinton county. Of him, Nelson Sizer, the noted professor of phrenology, said: ** His organization is remarkable for its inten- sity and enthusiasm. He has not been still, except when asleep, since he got out of his cradle. He will, probably, die with the har- ness on, with something half finished." Those who were acquainted with him will recognize this picture as true. The death of Mr. Gard took place August 14, 1893, and Frankfort has seldom mourned so active or useful a citizen.

The marriage of Mr. Gard took place De- cember 10, 1854, to Miss Cynthia A. Crom- well, to which happy union were born eight children, five of whom are still living: Charles E., Rob Morris, Wilbur W., Walter S., and Clarence S. The deceased are Luella, who died in August, 1877, aged 11 years; Thomas C. who died in Florida, where he had gone in search of health, in February, 1884, aged

twenty-three, and Lucy J., who likewise died in Florida, where she had gone in the hope of regaining her health, in February, 1894, aged twenty-three years.

Mrs. Cynthia Gard still resides at the pleasant family residence, 358 South Jackson street, surrounded by her surviving children and a host of genial friends.

O LIVER GARD, M. D., a prominent physician of Frankfort and the pres- ent efficient clerk of the Clinton circuit court, is a native of Switzer- land county, Ind., and the fifth of a family of ten children born to Jesse and Amanda (Mc- Henry) Gard. Jesse Gard was born in Hamil- ton county, Ohio, March 8, 1811, the son of William and Sarah (Woodruff) Gard, who moved from the "Buckeye" state to Indiana a number of years ago, settling in the county of Switzerland. William Gard, son of Jeremiah and Experience Gard, was born June 8. 1788, in Fayette county, Pa., and was a leading man during the early days of Switzerland county, which he represented in the first legis- lature ever assembled in Indiana. It was while on his way to Corydon to attend the legislature that he contracted a severe cold, which ultimately brought on consumption, thus causing his death April 14, 1827; he was buried on his farm in York township, Switzer- land county. By occupation he was a tiller of the soil. He married in Ohio and became the father of two children-Jesse, deceased, and Elizabeth, who lives near the old home farm in Switzerland county. After the death of his first wife, Mr. Gard married her sister, who bore him three children: William P, of Kan- sas; Julia, deceased, and Sarah J., of Switzer- land county.

Jesse Gard, son of the above, and father of Oliver, was reared on the home place and

Oliver Gard

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OF CLINTON COUNTY.

remained with his parents until the death of his father, which event threw the responsibility of supporting the family largely upon his shoulders, he being the eldest child. On ar- riving at manhood's estate he married and took charge of the home place, a portion of which he subsequently purchased, and continued to manage the same until the spring of 1849, when he moved to Clinton county, and located a home in the township of Warren, where he resided until his death, which occurred October 19, 1881, his remains being interred in the Sims graveyard. His wife, whose maiden name was Amanda McHenry, was born Janu- ary 18, 1814, in Hamilton county, Ohio; she bore her husband ten children: Perry W., deceased; Charlotte, wife of D. McKowen of Frankfort; James, deceased; Oliver, the sub- ject of this notice; Sarah, deceased; Cynthia, wife of J. H. Dronberger of Terre Haute; Eliza, wife of H. C. Conaway of Union county, Ind .; M. H., a resident of Texas; Edward E., a farmer residing in Wisconsin. Jesse Gard was a man of much more than the ordinary powers of mind, very conservative and retiring during the greater part of his life, and an exemplary citizen in every respect. He left, as a heritage to a grateful prosperity, the record of a pure, clean life, and many sterling qualities of manhood, which have been reproduced in the lives of his descendants.

Dr. Oliver Gard was born on the twelfth day of January, 1842, in Switzerland county, Ind., moved with his. parents to Clinton county in 1845, and spent his youthful years on the farm, with the rugged duties of which he early became inured, and where he was taught those lessons of industry and persever- ance by which his subsequent years have been characterized. In the common schools he acquired a rudimentary English education, and afterward, when about seventeen years of age, he entered an academy at New Lon-

don, where he pursued his studies very as- sidiously until the breaking out of the great rebellion. In September, 1861, when only nineteen years old, the doctor responded to his country's call for volunteers, and enlisted on the tenth of that month in company H, Third Indiana cavalry, with which he served until discharged on account of physical disa- bility in April, 1864, acting a part of the time as hospital steward. He was with his command in a number of skirmishes and bat- tles-chiefly at Shiloh, Chickamauga, Jones- boro and Perryville, saw much service and earned the reputation of a gallant soldier who was never known to shirk duty, however dangerous. On leaving the army Dr. Gard returned to Clinton county and formed a partnership with his brother Perry, carrying on a very extensive mercantile and grain trade at the town of Middlefork.

In 1866 Mr. Gard began the study of medicine with Dr. M. L. Martin, of Middle- fork, under whose direction he continued a couple of years, making rapid progress in the meantime. He entered Rush Medical college, Chicago, in 1867, the prescribed course of which he completed February 3, 1869. After receiving his diploma he located at the town of Middlefork in partnership with his preceptor and practiced there with the most gratifying success until March, 1882, when he moved to the city of Frankfort, where he soon enjoyed a lucrative practice; in 1884 he was nominated by the republicans to represent them in the state legislature, and while he ran two hun- dred ahead of his ticket he was defeated by forty-five votes. In 1886 his party unani- mously gave him the nomination for clerk of the circuit court, and he was elected, receiv- ing more votes than any man on the ticket, and was the first republican clerk the county ever had. In 1890 he was re-elected to the same position; his time will expire November

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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY

1, 1895. The doctor has served as president this work the doctor is enthusiastic, and to him is largely due the credit of making the Frankfort school one of the most thorough in all its appointments in the west. The doc- tor has a beautiful home in Frankfort, has other valuable property in the county, and is classed among the substantial men of Clinton financially. of the Clinton County, Medical society and he also belongs to the State Medical society of Indiana, in the deliberations of which he takes an active part. His professional reputation is an enviable one, and he combines the qualities of the true healer with those of the courteous gentleman, which make him very popular with the people and trusted in the sick roomn. In matters educational the doctor has always taken the greatest interest, and as township trustee and member of the Frankfort school board he has made his influence felt in behalf of many modern improvements, and in the selection of teachers professionally well quali- fied for their work. The doctor is a politician, though not a partisan, and his popularity with the people, irrespective of party affiliations, is attested by the very decided majorities he re- ceived in a county which has always been con- . on the fourteenth day of May, 1873, the doc- sidered reliably democratic.

He is prominently identified with the Masonic faternity, belonging to Clinton lodge, : No. 54, in which he has passed all the chairs, and he also belongs to the council, chapter and commandery, in all of which he has held the highest official positions. He is also a . a thirty-second degree Mason and a member of the mystic shrine. He is an active worker in Stone River post, No. 65, G. A. R., and past post commander; belongs to the Red Men and Pythian fraternities, and a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and has used his influence pretty effectually in behalf of the cause of temperance in Frankfort and Clinton county.

In religion the doctor is a Methodist, and was a lay delegate to the general conference held at Omaha, Neb., in 1892, and for the past sixteen years has been the efficient superintendent of the Sunday-school at Frankfort, which is one of the largest and best disciplined in the state, the average attendance being over 400. In

Dr. Gard has been twice married; the first time in 1864 to Miss Martha Dunnell, of How- ard county, daughter of Ezra and Susan Bun- nell, to which union three children were born: Minnie, wife of Prof. Lewis Rettger, of the State normal school, Terre Haute; Lennie, , wife of D. S. Haynes, of Tipton, Ind., and Nina, wife of Bruce Pullen, a resident of the county of Clinton. The mother of these chil- dren was called from the scene of her earthly labors on the fourth day of March, 1871, and tor married his present wife, India S. Merrick, whose birth occurred March 10, 1850, in Clin- ton county. Mrs. Gard is a daughter of John and Nancy (Tyner, Merrick, and has borne her husband six children: Grace, deceased; Rush, deceased; Helen and Russell, and two that died in infancy. Mrs. Gard is a member of the Methodist church, and a woman of much popularity in Frankfort. Dr. Gard is a man of fine presence and attractive person- ality, educated and refined, and he impresses all with whom he comes in contact as a true type of the polished and courteous gentleman. In the enjoyment of ample means and univer- sal confidence and esteem, he may be said to have acquired the best success in life, and he ' has the best wishes of his fellow-citizens of Frankfort and Clinton county for his future prosperity and happiness.

The prominence of the Gard family has been attained by true merit, as manifested by the living members, and doubtless will be sus- tained by those yet to come.

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OF CLINTON COUNTY.

EWTON J. GASKILL, a prominent citizen of Frankfort and native son of Clinton county, Ind., was born on the ninth day of April, 1838. He is a worthy descendant of an old New Jersey family, of which state his grandparents, Sam- uel and Achsa (Larkins) Gaskill, were natives -the old family homestead being near the city of Camden. By occupation, Samuel Gas- kill was a farmer and he pursued that vocation in New Jersey until 1811, at which time he emigrated to Warren county, Ohio, where the greater part of his family was reared. He was a soldier in the war of 1812 and died April 1, 1838. Mrs. Gaskill survived her hus- band a number of years, departing this life in 1852. The following are the names of their eight children-Mary, William, John W., Joseph, Daniel, James, Samuel, and Elizabeth. John W. Gaskill, son of the above and father of Newton J., was born in New Jersey, Octo- ber 31, 1808, grew to manhood in Warren county, Ohio, and there married, in 1833, Abigail Rippey, after which he moved to Clin- ton county, Ind., settling in the woods of Cen- ter township, where he purchased 160 acres of government land and developed a farm. He followed agricultural pursuits for a number of years, later in life dealt quite extensively in live stock, and lived on his place until 1868, when he exchanged it for city property in Frankfort. He became a resident of Frank- fort in February of the above year and departed this life on the nineteenth of the following Oc- tober. He was a successful man financially, and took an active interest in the growth and development of Clinton county. Politically, he was a democrat, in religion he subscribed to the liberal creed of Universalism, and for some years was prominently identified with the Odd Fellows' fraternity. His wife was a member of the Methodist church. John and Abigail Gaskill were the parents of ten chil-

dren, of whom the following are living: Eliza- beth, wife of Samuel Merritt; Newton J .; Mar- tha J., wife of C. R. Pence; Nancy C., wife of W. H. Jones; Floretta, wife of Dr. W. H. McGuire; Mattie A., wife of T. J. Steel; and William F. P.

Newton J. Gaskill was reared to agricul- tural pursuits on the home farm and remained with his parents until attaining his majority, at which time he began farming upon his own responsibility, teaching school in the mean- time. He followed the profession of teaching four consecutive terms, and in 1867 was united in marriage to Miss Maria Brandon of Frank- fort, daughter of Samuel and Maria (Hill) Bran- don, who were among the early pioneers of Clinton county. Mr. Gaskill continued farm- ing until 1871, in September of which year, he moved to Frankfort and engaged in the marble business, continuing the same for a period of about sixteen months. In 1873 he accepted the position of deputy county auditor, the duties of which he discharged until the fall of 1878, when he was elected auditor, holding the office two terins and retiring there- from in 1886. Mr. Gaskill's next venture was in the live stock business, which he carried on quite successfully for one year, and for three years thereafter was engaged in the grocery trade at Frankfort. Disposing of his mercan- tile interests, he lived a life of retirement until October, 1893, when he accepted the position as assistant cashier in the First National bank of Frankfort, which he still holds. Mr. Gaskill occupies a prominent position in Masonic cir- cles, in which he has taken a number of de- grees, including the Scottish rite and mystic shrine, and has filled the highest positions within the gift of the local lodge with which he is identified. Financially he has been a good manager and has cultivated thrift as one of his chief virtues, the result being a competency for his declining years. Mrs. Gaskill had one

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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY

child, that died in infancy, and they reared a niece of Mrs. Gaskill-i. c., Stella Brandon, who lived until her twenty-first year, when she died with consumption.

F. P. GASKILL, brother of N. J. Gaskill, whose biography appears above, is a native of Indiana, born on the fourth day of July, 1852, in the county of Clinton. Until his fifteenth year he remained with his par- ents on the home farm, and then began life for himself as an employee of his brother, N. J., with whom he continued sometime after the latter's removal to Frankfort. He worked at the marble business until 1873, at which time he embarked in the mercantile trade at the town of Scircleville, where he sold goods with fair success for about one year, and later found employment at different locations until 1875. In the latter year Mr. Gaskill went to the Pacific slope, where he was variously employed until 1876, when he returned to Clinton county and accepted the position of deputy auditor with his brother, discharging the duties of the position very creditably until the expiration of the latter's term of office, November, 1886. His next venture was in the grocery trade as assistant, in which he met with gratifying re- sults in Frankfort until 1890, when he again became deputy county auditor, a position he still fills.

Mr. Gaskill pursued his studies in the pub- lic schools of Frankfort, and from quite an early age has manifested much interest in literary matters. As an official he is kind and obliging, thoroughly familiar with the intricate duties of the place he so honorably fills, and as a man and citizen few residents of Frank- fort enjoy in as marked a degree the confidence and esteem of the public. In his religious be- lief Mr. Gaskill is an Episcopalian, and with a

truly catholic spirit he adheres. to the recog- nized creed of all good people, to do right, and treats all men with equal considera- tion. Politically he is a democaat, and while not an aspirant for official honors, has ever been an ardent worker for the success of his party. He is a member of the Red Men and Masonic fraternities, and takes an active inter- est in both orders. Mr. Gaskill was married, on the fifteenth day of May, 1884. in Moore's Hill, Ind., to Miss Luella Gault, daughter of Henry Gault, Esq., of Dearborn county.

DWARD GAYLOR, a prosperous farmer of Forest township, Clinton county, Ind., was born in Wayne county, of the same state, August 20, 1846. His father, Edward H. Gaylor, was born in West Virginia in 1801, and was of English descent. He worked in woolen mills when a young man, but later became a farmer, married Catherine Fisher and came to Indiana, first locating in Wayne county and later inov- ing to Clinton county. Edward H. Gaylor owned a farm of over 500 acres of good land. He was a pious member of the United Breth- ren church, and Mrs. Gaylor was especially active in church work, particularly in the mis- sionary field. Their children were born in the following order: Robert W., John F., Mar- tha, Morgan, Madison, Francis, Eliza, Ann, Edward, Catherine, William, Theodore, Frank- lin, and Daniel W. The father of this family died May 3. 1883. and the mother January 21, 1894.

Edward Gaylor enlisted in March, 1865. in company K, One Hundred and Forty-seventh Indiana volunteer infantry, and was assigned to the army of the Cumberland, under General Sherman, did duty in the Shenandoah valley, and was honorably discharged in 1865. He had attempted to enlist at the early age of six-

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OF CLINTON COUNTY.

teen in the Tenth Indiana regiment, but his father refused to give his consent. Edward Gaylor was first married, in 1869, to Miss Lu- cinda Paxon, daughter of Aaron and Mary Ann (Bradway) Paxon, who bore one child-Em- mett, who is now married. Mrs. Gaylor died in the faith of the United Brethren church, and was sadly missed in the home circle and by a large acquaintance. The second marriage of Edward Gaylor was to Mary J. Kinder, No- vember 26, 1876-daughter of Joseph and Eliza (Gifford) Kinder, the former a farmer of Forest township. The children born to this union are Willis, John, Frank, William, Clint and Carl, all of whom are being well educated. Edward Gaylor is a stanch republican, but not an office- seeker. His farm of 100 acres is well improved and well stocked; his dwelling is of brick, and his barn is new and spacious. Mr. Gaylor has won what he has through his own hard work, good management and judicious expenditure of his money as he earned it. He and family stand well up in the esteem of their neighbors, and none are more worthy of it.

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Author: Publication date: 1895 Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : A.W. Bowen & Co. Number of Pages: 1080

Author:
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : A.W. Bowen & Co.
Number of Pages: 1080